Sticky BBQ Pork Kabobs: A simple Pork Kabob using Pork Loin Filet, pineapple, peppers, and red onions. These tasty kabobs offer great BBQ flavor and are grilled to perfection
Tender and Juicy pieces of pork speared on a kabob perfectly grilled on my Traeger in under 30 minutes. Sweet and savory pork that melts in your mouth, and are so easy to make because the marinading is done for you, making it easy to get on the table in less than 30 minutes. These kabobs are simple and delicious. This BBQ Pork Kabobs recipe is great for summer grilling.
How do you cook shish kabobs on the grill?
Shish Kabobs are great because the concept behind them is simple. Put whatever you want on a skewer, throw it on the grill, and enjoy.
They usually have some kind of meat on them, usually it is marinated beforehand to provide deeper flavor, and a tender meat. Sometimes kabobs include fruits or veggies to add flavors, but in the end you cook them all the same way. Heat the grill to high heat (450 degrees is typical), place your kabobs on, turn them as needed, and cook them until the meat on them is cooked through. Sauce at the end so the sugars in the sauce don’t burn.
For this sticky barbecue pork kabobs recipe I use a premartinated pork loin, which has been slowly marinated in mesquite and perfectly seasoned, making it very flavorful right out of the package. It is great for those busy days when you want to get something on the grill, but don’t want to wait hours for the meat to marinate. It is already done.
You assemble the kabobs, cook over high heat until the pork is cooked through and the veggies are tender, then sauce with your favorite barbecue sauce, and cook for a few additional minutes. Then enjoy!
How long does it take to cook pork on the grill?
These BBQ Pork Kabobs are nice because they’re easy and pretty quick. How long it takes to cook pork on the grill depends a lot on how thick the meat is cut, and how hot your grill is. I used my Traeger Pro Series 34 Pellet Grill, and they were done in no time! Like seriously under 30 minutes.
You want to cook pork to an internal temperature of minimum 145 degrees F. Depending on how well done you like it, you may want to cook up to 160 degrees F. And of course, you always want to let your pork rest after grilling for 3-5 minutes, which will also cause the internal temperature to rise some.
Once the ingredients are cut up and prepared all you have to do is thread them onto skewers. I like these skewers from Amazon because they are stainless steel, pretty heavy duty, and come in a set of 12 so you can cook for a crowd. Once your pork skewers have cooked on each side, then you put the sauce on. Usually this takes less than 30 minutes to make bbq pork kabobs!
You do not want to cook the sauce on them the whole time because the burn point for sugar is lower than that of meat. Which means that while your meat cooks, the sugars in the sauce might start to burn. While you want a little char and flavor while barbecuing, no one wants a burned dinner. So instead, add the sauce at the end, and caramelize it for a few minutes for great flavor!
What makes a good Kabob?
There are three main components to a good skewer or kabob:
- Sizing: The key to making a great Pork Kabob is the size of the pieces of meat and additions you put on the skewer. You don’t want the pieces to be too big or you won’t be able to eat it in one bite, and it will be difficult to get it to cook through the meat without over-cooking the other ingredients. Part of the draw of a kabob is the bite-sized, already cut up for you, aspect, but you also don’t want the pieces too small or there won’t be enough food on each kabob to be satisfying. In my experience, the pieces of meat should about 1 inch cubes and the fruits and vegetables should be sized to match. This will encourage even cooking, and provide a hearty meal.
- The variety of flavors. Another aspect that separate a good kabob from a great kabob is the variety of flavors. When making a kabob you want it to be a flavor experience rather than a one note dish. This is achieved by adding fruits and vegetables to the pork kabobs, with sweet and savory, as well as various textures. It’s best to choose fruits and vegetables that match the flavor profile of the kabob you’re trying to make. With these being BBQ Pork Kabobs, I chose to include pineapple, red and green bell peppers, and red onions because all of the flavors will build off of each other to make a delicious dish.
- Depth of flavor: Last but not least, it is important to consider the meat itself, and how to achieve a depth of flavor in the meat you are cooking. Marinating the meat before threading your kabobs and cooking is crucial to good flavor. Or use a premartinated meat like I did.
Enjoy!
Sticky BBQ Pork Kabobs
Ingredients
- 1 Smithfield Slow Smoked Mesquite Marinated Fresh Pork Loin Filet cut into 1 inch cubes
- 32 pieces Pineapple 1/2 inch thick cored, and cut into bite sized chunks.
- 32 chunks of red onion 1/2 inch thick chunks
- 1-2 red peppers cut into 32-1 inch square pieces
- 1-2 green peppers cut into 32- 1 inch square pieces
- 1/2 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce
- 8- skewers
Instructions
- Assemble skewers by threading pork and other ingredients onto each skewer in this order:
- Pork, red pepper, onion, pineapple, green pepper, pork, red pepper, onion, pineapple, green pepper, pork, red pepper, onion, pineapple, green pepper, pork, red pepper, onion, pineapple, green pepper, pork
- Repeat with the other skewers until you have all 8.
- When ready to cook, start your grill with temperature set to 450 degrees F (High) and preheat, lid closed, for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Arrange the skewers on the grill grate and grill, turning once, for about 8 minutes per side, or until the pork is mostly cooked through.
- Brush skewers with BBQ sauce and cook additional 2 minutes until sauce is caramelizing and pork is cooked through.
- Transfer the skewers to a platter or plates and serve immediately with steamed rice. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
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